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Schools don't spend enough time teaching students the basic functions of a computer, such as file management, but expect students to complete assignments on a computer, educator Sheena Vaidyanathan writes in this blog post. Vaidyanathan argues that basic computer science lessons -- such as how to save a file so that it doesn't get lost on the computer -- should begin in grade school. "In today’s world, one may argue that this is more important than learning about rock formations," writes Vaidyanathan, who teaches 3D design and computer programming in California.

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Schools will mark Computer Science Education Week Dec. 5 through Dec. 11. Sheena Vaidyanathan, a teacher and computer science integration specialist, shares several ways her school engages students in the subject.

Little more than 3% of the children's books published in 2011 feature a Latino character or were written by a Hispanic author, according to the Cooperative Children's Book Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. While there is little data connecting cultural relevance to student achievement, advocates express concern about the lack of Latino protagonists in the books. "Kids do have a different kind of connection when they see a character that looks like them or they experience a plot or a theme that relates to something they've experienced in their lives," said Jane Fleming, an assistant professor at the Erikson Institute, a Chicago-based graduate school in early-childhood development.

Eighth-grade English teacher Ariel Sacks suggests in this blog post that education reporters put more focus on what teachers do correctly instead of inundating them with negative stories and outcomes to help spur the improvement of schools. "We don't teach students to improve their thinking and skills by focusing mostly on negative examples, do we?" Sacks writes.

More schools should offer students the opportunity to learn computer programming at a young age, teacher Sheena Vaidyanathan writes in this blog post. A 3D design and computer-programming teacher in California, Vaidyanathan writes: "Everyone can learn to program just like everyone can learn to swim when they are young and unafraid."

South African schools grapple every day with basic problems, including teacher absenteeism and poverty. But at one school in Boksburg, teacher Sipho Ncala has set up a program that imparts computer skills to all students in grades 10 to 12. Ncala began with a single computer -- his own -- in 1999, and the school now has a Computer Application Technology Department with 25 machines.